The Wander Art Walking Trail: London’s largest outdoor gallery

Looking for new ways to make the most of your daily exercise?

Follow the Wander Art trail throughout the streets of Mayfair & Belgravia this winter.

Launching from 30 November 2020, art addicts can immerse themselves in art and design as they wander the streets of Mayfair & Belgravia with the new outdoor gallery trail, Wander Art.

Hosted by Landlord Grosvenor Britain & Ireland and curated by Alter-Projects, this bespoke walking trail is home to creations from some of the world’s most exciting artists including Ricardo Cavolo, Emily Forgot, Yinka Ilori, Fernando Laposse, Morag Myerscough and Richard Woods.

New artworks by acclaimed international and London-based artists will be unveiled in the squares, streets and on the buildings and architecture of Mayfair and Belgravia, creating an evolving, eye catching art trail, featuring sculptures, installations, and murals.

With 12 artworks in a range of distinctive striking and colourful styles, the art in the Wander Art trail celebrates the architecture and creative talents of London, drawing on personal stories and individual perspectives of the capital from artists local, national and international.

The Wander Art walking trail is a way for anyone to engage with visual art through lockdown and beyond, giving the general public, art enthusiasts and critics alike a unique way to explore London outdoors this season.

Mayfair sees new work unveiled by UK-based artists Yinka Ilori on Mount Street, Margaux Carpentier in Brown Hart Gardens and Morgan Myerscough in Grosvenor Square, as well as international artists including French painter Julien Colombier on Mount Street and Mexican designer Fernando Laposse on Mercato Metropolitano. The new commissions add to existing artworks, including Camille Walala’s hugely popular ‘Walala Lounge’ on South Molton Street, and Neil French’s ‘Three Figures’ in Bourdon Place, Mayfair.

Meanwhile in Belgravia, UK artists unveiling their work on the elegant streets of Belgravia include Craig & Karl in Eccleston Yards, Kinska on Pimlico Road, Richard Woods in Lower Grosvenor Gardens, and Emily Forgot on Elizabeth Street, with international artists such as Barcelona-based Ricardo Cavolo in Eccleston Yards, Germany’s Jordan Söderberg Mills in Halkin Arcade, and Brazil’s Andre Mendes on Eccleston Street.

To stay up date on the Wander Art trail, discover more online.

Or, follow us and our friends on social media: @theartofldn, @mayfair_ldn, @belgravia_ldn, @ecclestonyards.

Looking to learn more about each artists’ commission?

Full commission details and artist biographies follows:

Julien Colombier, ‘Red Hot Contrasts’, Mayfair

The work of French painter Julien Colombier incorporates various graphic techniques including chalk, paper, canvas and paint to produce shadowy, repetitive compositions that interweave flowers, plants and trees. Influenced by his background in early 90’s street culture, Colombier often enacts his designs onto walls, ramps and metropolitan areas and collaborates with international luxury brands from Chanel to Cartier. His commission for Wander Art, ‘Red Hot Contrasts’ will bring heat and sensuality to people walking down Balderton Street during these cold, isolating times, by spreading the message ‘do not give up, the spark is inside of you.’

André Mendes, ‘Face to Face’ , Belgravia

Brazilian artist André Mendes specialises in largescale projects like murals and sculptures, approaching them with a three-dimensional vision. For Wander Art, Mendes will create a characteristically gargantuan mural on the corner of Radstock House, a location which offers multiple possibilities of interpretation depending on the observer’s point of view. This dynamic piece reflects his preference for bold, primary colours and abstract, manipulated forms, using the fine architecture of Belgravia as a setting for his genre-bending designs.

Ricardo Cavolo, ‘Have you seen the lions’, Belgravia

Spanish artist Ricardo Cavolo has an eclectic, international style, which draws on folk art, tattoo culture and European religious imagery. He creates detailed narratives in his work, referencing fictional and historical illustrations to create mythical characters and tell fantastical stories. His commission for Wander Art; located in Eccleston Place, is inspired by the heraldic symbols of the Lion and the Unicorn, weaving a playful retelling of a foundation myth in the UK’s national identity for a contemporary international audience.

Kinska, ‘Tell me something nice’, Belgravia

Argentinian artist Kinska is a formally trained fashion designer and self-taught ceramic artist based in London. Her work is organic and instinctive, characterised by the deceptive simplicity of shapes, patterns and colours, yet maintaining a strong sense of play. Kinska’s commission for Wander Art is typically playful, experimenting with urban design and utilitarian forms to bring the planters in Daylesford Parklet to life in unexpected ways.

Margaux Carpentier, ‘Watching you grow’, Mayfair

Margaux Carpentier is a London-based painter and illustrator whose style is inspired by the infinite combinations of colours offered by the natural world, and whose images transcribe the choreography of living things. Her commission will take inspiration from these fantastical forms, conjuring up a joyous figure amidst the genteel facades of Brown Hart Gardens, located just off Duke Street, and injecting Mayfair’s streets with a dose of magical surrealism.

Morag Myerscough, ‘See Through’, Mayfair

Born and bred Londoner Morag Myerscough’s mantra is ‘make happy those who are near and those who are far will come’. She is fascinated by how colour, pattern and words can transform brutal urban environments, create community, and build local identities. Myerscough is known for her distinctive large scaffold structures, adorned with neon messaging, geometric patterns and shapes, hand painted onto plywood. For the first time she has constructed a bamboo structure to support a multi-coloured multitude of hand-painted messages in response to the new times we are living in. The structure will be positioned in the iconic Grosvenor Square, creating a thought-provoking haven of positivity and joy which passers-by can walk through and engage with.

Richard Woods, ‘Small, Medium, Large’, Belgravia

British artist Richard Woods is celebrated for his ongoing series which present absurd twists on the cult of home improvement and DIY aesthetics. His works are characterised by cartoon-like decorative surfaces, bold patterns and vibrant colours. Woods’ commission for Wander Art, entitled ‘Small, Medium and Large’ will be similarly playful, experimenting with architectural perspective in the lush green space of Lower Grosvenor Gardens.

Fernando Laposse, ‘Wild Lights’, Mayfair

Mexican designer Fernando Laposse works extensively with plant fibres like sisal, loofah and corn leaves, taking inspiration from their historical and cultural origins. For Wander Art, Laposse has created an installation entitled ‘Wild Lights’, hanging colourful sloths hugging globes of light across the pillared entrance to the Mercato Mayfair.

Craig&Karl, ‘The Only Way Is Up’, Belgravia

Craig Redman & Karl Maier live in different parts of the world (New York & London) but collaborate daily to create bold work that is filled with simple messages executed in a thoughtful and often humorous way. Their concept for Eccleston Yards, ‘The Only Way Is Up’, uses one of Belgravia’s most charming spaces to engage with new audiences through the playful interaction of colour, shape and form.

Emily Forgot, ‘Fabriques’, Belgravia

Emily Forgot is a London-based designer whose multidisciplinary practice encompasses art, design & illustration for a diverse range of international clients. In her work she uses her recognisably graphic visual language to explore her passion for design history, interior spaces, architecture and colour. Her Wander Art commission is a series of archi-sculptures inspired by the 18th-century shell huts which French architect Jean Charles Moreux designed for Grosvenor garden, but through a contemporary, playful and colourful lens.

Jordan Söderberg Mills, ‘The Five Fields’, Belgravia

Jordan Söderberg Mills is an interdisciplinary artist from Canada, working in installation, sculpture and light. His work plays with ideas of the sublime, and the borders between physical and digital realities. ‘The Five Fields,’ which will stand in Halkin Arcade, embeds curved steel columns with small optical mirrors that reflect and alter views of the surrounding buildings, allowing the viewer to experience Belgravia in new and exciting ways.

Yinka Ilori, ‘In Plants We Trust’, Mayfair

Yinka Ilori is a London-based multidisciplinary artist, who specialises in fusing his British and Nigerian heritage to tell new stories in contemporary design. Humorous, provocative and fun, each piece of furniture he creates tells a story, bringing Nigerian verbal traditions into playful conversation with contemporary trends. For Wander Art, Ilori engages with nature with his installation ‘In Plants, We Trust’, serving as a reminder of the beauty that plants offer us within our busy city. From Mount Street, spectators will be confronted with a characteristically colourful and modern spectacle, serving as a temple to the organic elements of our urban ecosystem.